Creighton drops road game to red hot Indiana State

Jake Odum had 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half as Indiana State defeated Creighton, 76-57, on Wednesday night. He also became the 35th player in ISU history to surpass 1,000 career points. Ranked No. 13 (coaches) and 16 (AP) nationally, Creighton was the highest-ranked foe to play at Hulman Center since 1985, and a season-high crowd of 8,345 turned out to see the upset. It was ISU’s second win over a ranked MVC leader in the past seven days, as the ‘Trees chopped down No. 14/15 Wichita State last week in Wichita.

With the win, Indiana State improved to 15-8 on the season and is tied for second in the MVC with an 8-4 league mark. Creighton fell to 20-4 on the year, but remains first in The Valley with a 9-3 league mark.

Odum helped the host Sycamores to an early 13-8 lead, scoring eight points in a five-minute span. The Jays answered with a Will Artino lay-up and Doug McDermott corner three-pointer to even the score midway through the half.

ISU would go without a field goal for more than six minutes, yet still remain competitive by making six free throws in that time. A Lucas Eitel trey broke the drought and was followed with hoops from Khristian Smith and Manny Arop during a 7-0 flurry that made is 26-18 with 5:28 to go in the half. ISU continued to score at the line and from the floor, and Arop’s three-pointer on the Sycamores final trip gave the hosts their largest lead at 35-24 at intermission.

ISU were in the bonus at the 8:55 mark and made 11-of-17 free throws in the first half, as CU was whistled for 13 fouls. McDermott led CU with eight points at the half, while ISU was paced by 16 from Odum. The Sycamores did not commit a first half turnover while forcing Creighton into eight miscues and converting those into 12 points.

ISU started the second half with an 10-2 run to move ahead 45-26. The flurry was started by a four-point play by RJ Mahurin, included two scores from Odum, and a hoop by Devonte Brown. Creighton would no get within 18 the rest of the night.

CU was led by 13 points from Will Artino, who tied his career-high and was 5-for-5 from the floor. Gregory Echenique led CU with seven rebounds while adding eight points. Creighton shot 20-for-48 from the floor while scoring seven points below its previous season-low total.

Creighton returns home on Saturday night when it hosts Illinois State in an ESPN2 game slated for a 9:05 pm start.